From the Eclipse Shelf: Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?

There’s fashion forward and then there are the gonzo styles featured in William Klein’s surreal and savage Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?. A  poke to the ribs of 1960s haute couture and a skewering of media pretension, Klein’s visually daring debut feature—the Alice in Wonderland–esque tale of an American model in Paris—was inspired by the director’s experiences as a photographer for Vogue and cameraman for French television. In the immediately captivating opening sequence, a high fashion priestess modeled on Diana Vreeland attends a fashion show of absurd proportions, featuring statuesque models in aluminum dresses so sharp-edged they occasionally draw blood. Now that's cutting satire!

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